Int’l treaty bans mercury; small scale mining end seen

By Geraldine G. Dumallig

TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The end of small-scale mining may come sooner after the Mercury Treaty formulated during the recent Minamata Convention on Mercury in Japan stipulated the stop of mercury trade globally.

Lawyer and Ban Toxics (Bantox) executive director Richard Gutierrez, bared this saying the MCM was conducted last January to address effect of mercury on humans and environment which had become global concern.

This he said has two major impacts in the country. First is stoppage and elimination of supply in the market  for  legal or illegal use such as those used in small scale mining. 

Traders, he said, had been importing the hazardous substance from other nations since the Philippines shutdown all its mercury mines.

The United States and the European Union he said don’t export mercury.

Once the country starts complying with the treaty, mercury users like the artisanal small-scale gold miners (ASGM)  will experience the biggest impact  since the substance would eventually be gone in the market or if not supply would be scarce,  it will  be sold in much higher prices.

With this eventuality, he encouraged all ASGM to shift from mercury dependence since a technology for safer mining methods could be availed in the locality.

Gutierrez  said mercury impact on health and the environment especially through amalgamation  has its consequences ranging from mercury poisoning, kidney damage, brain and neurological damage and contamination of the land and water networks eventually affecting the human food chain.

Secondly, the treaty he said should be a wake-up call for the government to stop the entry of said substance in the country to avoid further concerns on how to manage its storage.

As one provision of the treaty, governments he said are mandated to come up with proper waste storage and plan how the country would collect, segregate and contain the substance, a process which d cause a fortune and could become more costly if the country continues to import mercury.

“If we continue to import mercury the storage problem would rise,” he said adding that this include importing products using mercury as prescribed by the agreement.

The Minamata Convention on Mercury was named after a city in Japan where mercury pollution incurred during the mid-20th century resulting to various serious health damages among the populace that shocked the world.